• Nicole Fenton brings more than 25 years of experience to her work advising U.S. and international investors in real estate transactions across the country involving virtually every type of asset class, including multifamily, mixed-use, retail, office and hospitality projects.

    Nicole’s clients include owners, developers, investors and lenders, and she counsels and represents them on acquisitions and dispositions, development, construction and mezzanine financing, joint ventures, and preferred equity investments. She also advises developers, family offices, private equity funds and institutional investors through every stage of financing — from capital raise to development, leasing, marketing and disposition — as well as not-for-profit entities in for-profit transactions. Nicole also routinely assists clients with dispute resolution, troubleshooting and managing issues that may arise in the course of owning, operating, developing and managing real estate projects.

    Experience

    • Represented the minority equity partner in the $3 billion recapitalization (including acquisition and takeover of the controlling interest from a private equity firm), refinancing (a $1 billion securitized first mortgage loan and an $800 million mezzanine loan from a foreign-based pension fund) and redevelopment of one of the largest multifamily properties in the United States.

    • Represented the development arm of a real estate investment and development company in the acquisition of a property under construction in downtown Manhattan; the purchaser was the stalking horse in a Chapter 11 restructuring of the parent company of the debtor.

    • Represented the development arm of a real estate investment and development company in connection with a $26 million construction loan and an $11 million private equity investment with respect to the acquisition and development of a multifamily property in Harlem.

    • Represented a religious organization in the sale of a more than 150-acre property in Westchester, New York, to be subdivided and sold to two separate purchasers, one a publicly traded (Fortune 500) nationwide homebuilder and the other a governmental agency.

    • Represented a New York-based developer in the $300 million acquisition, financing and repositioning of a corporate campus in Playa Vista, California.

    • Represented a New Jersey-based developer in connection with a $100 million programmatic joint venture with a Canadian private equity investor for the construction and development of “branded” multifamily properties located throughout the United States.

    • Represented a private equity investor in connection with the joint venture, reverse exchange (including the sale of the relinquished property and the acquisition of the portfolio of replacement properties) and financing of multiple multifamily properties located in Manhattan.

    • Represented an insurance company that was the capital partner in a $50 million joint venture with a Boston-based developer for the construction and development of a life sciences campus outside Boston, Massachusetts.

    • Represented the investment arm of a family office as the tenant under two separate ground leases for more than 300 acres of timberland located in an opportunity zone to be redeveloped for industrial purposes.

    • Represented the borrower (a publicly traded REIT) in a $750 million CMBS loan involving 182 borrowers and approximately 376 single-tenant commercial properties in 42 states.

    • Represented a New York-based developer in a $274 million construction loan and a $97 million mezzanine loan for the renovation of an office building located in Greenwich Village.

    • Represented a New York-based investment and development company in the acquisition of a defaulted loan comprised of a senior mortgage loan, a subordinate mortgage loan and three mezzanine loans secured by a multifamily complex under construction in Brooklyn, New York.

    • Represented a New York-based family office on multiple financings and joint ventures with respect to the acquisition, sale, construction and development of multifamily and mixed-use properties primarily located in New York and Florida.

    • Represented a New Jersey-based developer on multiple financings and joint ventures with respect to the construction and development of properties located in New York and New Jersey.

    • Represented a Hong Kong-based family office in the acquisition, development and financing of multiple high-end residential and office properties located throughout Los Angeles, California.

    Credentials

    Education

    • J.D., New York University School of Law, 1993
    • B.A., Brandeis University, 1990

    Bar Admissions

    • New York, 1994

    Focus Areas

  • Perspectives

    • Defining Matters
      Feb. 16, 2024
      Kramer Levin closes $150 Million Warehouse Facility Secured by Solar Assets
      Read More
    • Announcements
      Sept. 22, 2023
      2023 New York Super Lawyers and Rising Stars Lists Include Over 90 Kramer Levin Attorneys
      Read More
    • Announcements
      Nov. 28, 2022
      Kramer Levin Welcomes Real Estate Attorney in New York
      Read More

  • Recognition

    2023
    Thomson Reuters’ New York Metro Super Lawyers*
    Real Estate (2023)
    2020
    Legal 500 US
    Real Estate

    *No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. A description of the Super Lawyers selection methodology can be found here.